Automatic packaging machine for sealing bags under conditioned atmosphere

ABSTRACT

An automatic packing machine for conditioning bags under conditioned atmosphere, in which the sealing operation of the bags occurs inside a pneumatically insulated space that is composed by a conditioning chamber which contains the already conditioned bag, and by a sealing chamber which contains the sealing equipment, after that the chambers have been put in communication through the opening of the lid of the conditioning chamber.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention refers to the technical field of automaticpackaging machines construction, specifically for the conditioning ofbags under controlled atmosphere. International Classification B65 b.

STATE OF THE PRIOR ART

In the prior art are known several kinds of machines that seal bagsunder vacuum or under controlled atmosphere. In the known packagingmachines each conditioning chamber is provided with its own sealingequipment.

Such machines are usually cumbersome and heavy, and also very expensivebecause of the high number of components that are not active duringlarge part of the production process, and that intervene only during thepackets' sealing phase.

In the prior art there is EP 0929445 that shows a machine including aplurality of conditioning chambers and only one sealing chamber. It isclear that said solution presents considerable problems of wear of thesliding gaskets of the single fixed lid that closes all the conditioningchambers.

The present invention solves the problem of the slide wear of suchgasket parts of the lid of the conditioning chamber.

DESCRIPTION

The present invention is now described with reference to the figures ofthe attached drawings as not limiting example.

FIG. 1 represents a perspective scheme of an automatic packaging machinefor conditioning bags under controlled atmosphere. One can observe thepresence of a plurality of conditioning chambers (1) distributed along aclockwise circular path. Also, the presence of only one sealing chamber(3), inside which a single sealing equipment, (4) is set up, can benoted. In this figure is clear the presence of closing lids (5) thatmake the chambers (1) hermetic.

It should be pointed out that FIG. 1 represents a stationing phaseduring which an already conditioned and sealed bag is removed from itsconditioning chamber (1) while another bag, still be to conditioned, isintroduced in the next chamber. It is clear that during the introductionand removal operations of the bags, the lid (5) is fully open. Said lid(5) is hermetically closed in all the other chambers where the wholeconditioning process occurs.

FIG. 2 represents in detail the phase when a chamber (1), with the lidhermetically closed to allow the completing of the conditioning throughthe conduit (6), rests by the sealing chamber (3). This chamber islifted up, that is not yet in hermetic contact with the chamberunderneath (1).

It is clear that during this phase the conditioning of the chamber (3)through the conduit (7) can't be activated.

FIG. 3 represents the sealing of the bag.

It can be noted that the sealing chamber (3) has been brought inhermetic contact with the chamber (1), that has already been conditionedin order to activate, through the conduit (7), also the conditioning ofsaid chamber (3).

Afterwards, the opening of the lid (5) will allow the intervention ofthe sealing equipment (4) to perform the sealing of the bag within thehermetic environment consisting of the chamber (1) and the chamber (3).

FIG. 4 represents a perspective scheme of another version of the sealingchamber (3). In this respect, it can be noted the presence of anotherlid (9) that closes hermetically said chamber to allow the conditioningthrough the pertinent conduit (7) even before that the two chambers(1,3) are being in touch with each other.

FIG. 5 represents another version in which to increase the productivitytwo sealing chambers (3) are put together and are moved in order tofollow the motion of the corresponding conditioning chambers.

In this figure one can note that the sealing operation happenssimultaneously inside of two insulated spaces formed by two conditioningchambers and two sealing chambers.

Obviously the two linked sealing chambers, after having followed themoving of the two corresponding conditioning chambers, go back to theinitial position as indicated by the arrow (8).

FIG. 6 shows a variation to the opening system of the conditioningchamber's (1′) lids. In this figure is sketched a lid (5′) that opensand closes while sliding.

Such variation allows for a smaller size of the sealing equipment and ofthe sealing chamber (3′), and also accounts for a considerable reductionof the space to be conditioned through the pertinent conduit (7′).

In the same FIG. 6 one can easily observe that the conditioning chamber(1′) is provided with a broad upper surface (10) that is able to containthe sliding closing lid (5′) up to its maximum opening range.

FIG. 7 shows the same variation on the sealing chamber (3′). In thisfigure a broad lower surface (11), that matches with the surface (10),can be observed.

In all the figures each single detail is marked as follows:

1 indicates a conditioning chamber

1′ indicates a conditioning chamber provided with a broad upper surface.

2 is a bag

3 indicates a sealing chamber

4 is the sealing equipment

5 is the lid for closing the chamber (1)

5′ is the lid with sliding opening

6 is the conduit for conditioning the chamber (1)

7 is the conduit for conditioning the chamber (3)

7′ is the conduit for conditioning the chamber (3′)

8 is the system to move the two linked sealing chambers

9 is the lid to close the chambers (3)

10 indicates the broad upper surface of the conditioning chamber (1′)

11 indicates the broad lower surface of the sealing chamber (3′)

The clarity of the figures points out the functional and structuralsimplicity of the machine as illustrated so far. Indeed, it can be notedthat the conditioning chambers are very simple and that the coming ofthe bags to be conditioned is made easier by the lack of sealingequipment.

The opening systems of the lids of the conditioning chambers and of thesealing chamber can be realized with different geometric configurationsand different possibilities of realization.

The invention can of course be improved or modified with several optionsof practical realization as far as the structural proportioning of thedifferent parts and the technological choices of the constructionmaterials are concerned.

It is clear that the number and the geometric location of conditioningchambers can be adjusted according to the production needs of thetechnological process and the different formats of the bags to beconditioned.

All the automatic packaging machines for conditioning bags under vacuumor under controlled atmosphere in which the sealing operation of thebags occurs inside an hermetic space formed by a conditioning chamberput in communication with a sealing chamber through the opening of apertinent lid and showing the characteristics basically similar to theones described, showed and hereinafter claims, will be considered aspart of the protection domain of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. An automatic packing machine for conditioningbags under a conditioned atmosphere, comprising: at least oneconditioning chamber for containing and conditioning a bag, saidconditioning chamber comprising a lid adapted to hermetically close theconditioning chamber; and at least one sealing chamber containingsealing equipment for sealing the bag, said sealing chamber beingadapted to be brought in hermetic contact with said conditioningchamber, wherein said conditioning chamber and said sealing chamber areadapted to be put in communication with each other by opening the lidand thereby forming a pneumatically insulated space containing the bag,and wherein the sealing equipment is adapted to perform a sealingoperation of the bag inside of the pneumatically insulated space.
 2. Theautomatic packing machine of claim 1, wherein the sealing chamber isequipped with a second lid adapted to insulate the sealing chamberhermetically from the outside.
 3. The automatic packing machine of claim1, wherein the conditioning chamber is adapted to move and the sealingchamber is adapted to follow a motion of the conditioning chamber whilethe sealing operation is performed.
 4. The automatic packing machine ofclaim 1, wherein the lid of the conditioning chamber is adapted to openand close in a sliding manner thereby remaining below the sealingequipment.
 5. The automatic packing machine of claim 4, wherein the lidcomprises a closed position and a wide opened position, and wherein theconditioning chamber is provided with a broad upper surface and thesealing chamber is provided with a broad lower surface, with bothsurfaces being large enough to encase the lid during its slidingmovement between said maximum opened and closed positions.